Paul Kane Obviously Doesn’t Ride a Bike

Your first thought here is obviously: Who in fuck is Paul Kane? Basically he’s a Washington DC political reporter, a guy who covers the kind of insider capital hill political football that induces vomiting in most Americans.

And Paul Kane very obviously does not ride a bike, at least not for anything besides recreation in the summer.

I know this because nobody who relies on bicycles to commute for work, for groceries, or for hauling their kids around town would say something as ignorant, tone-deaf, and downright dangerous as what Paul Kane tweeted this week.

DC bicyclists: on dark rainy nights no one can see you. You’re endangering your life. Blame Henry Ford if you want but don’t blame drivers.

That’s right, even in (almost) the year 2016 there are articulate, thoughtful adults who can say shit this dumb. This kind of ‘you get what you deserve‘ victim-blaming would be comical if it wasn’t still common among a selfish driving class who demand dominance of roadways subsidized for all to use. This fact obscures and festers the illusion that roads were somehow invented after the automobile, and solely for motorists.

Fortunately, there were a fair number of smart replies to Kane’s illogical concern-trolling. Below are some of the best.

@pkcapitol People who rely on biking for transportation can’t just adjust their lives for drivers every time it rains.

@pkcapitol Homework for tomorrow: Catalog all the car crashes tonight. Y’all can’t even not hit each other. — Code Name (@sirotisdozer) November 10, 2015

Unlike David Axelrod’s cringe worthy anti-bike tweet last year, Kane’s lacked any tongue-in-cheekiness that could excuse such a foul attitude. He also wasted little time in doubling down on incompetence in subsequent tweets.

@ByronTau No Byron, it’s a shared responsibility. Bicyclists need to be more safe for their own good. Regardless of legal culpability. — Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) November 10, 2015

@ByronTau I would advise against biking during rush hour + rain once we lose daylight savings, yes. Too dangerous, not because of car speed.

I would advise this fool to pull his head out of his ass and realize rush hour exists because damn near everyone is going to or leaving from work. And it’s motorists’ space-wasting driving habit that causes congestion, not buses, not light rail, and certainly not cyclists.

As I’ve written before, between bicyclists and motorists the burden of mortality is always on the person pedaling the bike. That means the burden of responsibility to not drive a two ton metal weapon into bikers and pedestrians alike falls solely on drivers. It is not a ‘shared responsibility’. To think in such a way is irresponsible cowardice.

2 thoughts on “Paul Kane Obviously Doesn’t Ride a Bike”

No, I will take responsibility for my safety, I will not wait for the next iteration of innovative facilities to be found to be lethal. I will use lights and ride predictably in a position where other road users will see me. I will not fetishize the risk of cycling or justify unpredictable and dangerous behavior on the alter of vulnerability and bicycle advocacy.